"I can't give you the concrete answers why they're going in (for opponents) and why aren't they going in (for us)," Quenneville said of being out-scored 8-0 in the third period over the last eight games.

OK, then.

Perhaps just as fluky as the late-game collapses has been the Hawks' ability to overcome them. They are 6-1-2 to start the season and carry a six-game points streak into Thursday night's contest against the Lightning that concludes a two-game trip to Florida.

"A lot of us feel like we can play even better than we have, and we're 6-1-2," Kane said. "We'd probably take this start if you told us before we had it.

"(Patrick) Sharp told me a stat (Wednesday) that we've been trailing only (4 minutes, 57 seconds in games so far. When you are) playing with the lead a lot, you're bound to give it up. It's something we'll try to fix."

Kane then took another shot at explaining the Hawks' third-period demons.

"I don't know if we're getting too comfortable or taking it easy in the third — I don't really think we are," he said. "It's just one of those things when you're up 2-0 and they get the first one and then the second one right away. You don't want to make a habit of (it). We have to fix this as soon as possible."

Keith is quick to credit opponents for pushing the pace late in games but said it's up to the Hawks to counter.

"It comes down to bearing down and having that killer instinct to put them away," the veteran said. "The other teams are trying to come back and have nothing to lose so they're coming back to full-court press us.

"We should be generating some chances off of their mistakes when they're trying to press like that but we're not capitalizing. … But a win is a win and we're not going to complain about that."

When the Hawks take the ice against the Lightning, it will be with a determination to reverse the downward trend while focusing on the positives of their sparkling record and play early in games.

"We need to push ourselves," Bickell said. "We know we haven't been playing our best. We haven't quite put the full 60 minutes together. We're still looking forward to push us over that hump."